I work as a teacher in Scotland and have done for 28 years.

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I work as a teacher in Scotland and have done for 28 years. I was told last week I was surplus in my department. I was originally employed by Strathclyde Regional Council where I was placed in a school. We were not interviewed for jobs back then. Strathclyde disbanded in 1995 and small local authorities were set up. I moved from one small authority to another in 1999. My present authority say they are not counting my Strathclyde service of 9 years to calculate length of service. Had I stayed in the same authority it would have. Surely the Strathclyde service of 9 years should count. Is this not discrimination. I did not choose to work in my first school. I was placed there. I also did not choose for Strathclyde to disband. I believe I should have 9 years from Strathckyde and 15 from my present school. This would no longer make me surplus. I hope this makes sense

Hello, my name is XXXXX XXXXX it is my pleasure to assist you with your question today. can you tell me if you have had a change of contracts

Customer: Hi Ben I suppose I did as I chose to move closer to home. However surely my contract with Strathclyde ended in 1995 like everyone's did so if it counts for some it should count for everyone?

Ben Jones :

Ok thank you leave it with me I need to look up a few things and then get my advice ready.I will post back on here when done there is no need to wait and you will receive an email when I have responded.

Ben Jones :

Many thanks for your patience. First of all this is not discrimination in a legal sense of the term. For discrimination to occur you must be treated detrimentally due to a protected characteristic. These are limited to age, gender, religion, race, disability, sexual orientation, marriage. None of these would apply here because the issue is not connected to any of these; it is to do with your employer at the time and your continuous service. So it is best not to use the term discrimination in this instance.

Your situation would most likely be covered under what is known as the ‘Modification Order’. This is a continually updated list of laws and regulations which basically serve to make specific public bodies ‘associated employers’ when it comes to counting continuous service with each of them. Generally all local authorities are included in the list and if you move from one LA to another your continuous service would be preserved, as long as there was no gap in between the two employments (up to a week is acceptable).

The LA’s in your case are not specifically listed but that is because as mentioned all LA’s are generally included in the list, nevertheless there is contact information there for a person you can contact to enquire whether a body is on the list or not.

Ben Jones :

Hello, I see you have accessed and read my answer to your query. Please let me know if this has answered your original question or if you need me to clarify anything else for you in relation to this? I just need to know whether to close the question or not? Thanks

Customer: I am still awaiting an answer from the website you gave me. Am I able to use this information against my employer or is this merely your opinion

Ben Jones :

This is law, not just an opinion, the website was just to try and get another independent opinion to back it up. You can certainly use the above against the emploieyr and get their response as to why they believe it does not apply in their case

Ben Jones :

Has this clarified your position?

Customer: Does this law apply in Scotland and do I have to wait to find out if these councils are part of the body. Also I chose to move from one council to another. Would this still count? I wasn't made redundant

Ben Jones :

Yes it does apply to Scotland, it does not matter whether you chose to leave or were made redundant, all that matters is whether you had unbroken service with the two separate bodies

Customer: Sorry but does unbroken service mean stop on Friday start on Monday?

Ben Jones :

Up to a week in between the two is ok

Customer: Thank you I will try to print this and take it to my union. Just don't want to get involved in huge legal bills. Thanks

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